Busy Boredom

Our Friday Fiver for September 26th

1. Last party you went to?
   Sherzy: Back in April I went to a “Rockstar Party” hosted by Rex (in the Rockstar Suite of Chambers Hotel). It was quite fun, got to see some former co-workers and meet some new people. And watch from above while a guy was arrested.
   Katie: A wedding reception last weekend.  We drank pitchers of beer and danced all night.
   Cariann: I can’t remember for sure… maybe the Iron Man party?
2. Do you pee in the shower?
   Sherzy: No. And I hope that is same answer my hubby would give.
   Katie: No.  Reminds me of George Costanza though.  Lol…Cariannza.
   Cariann: Yes and Husband hates it. (It’s supposed to be good for your feet or something)
3. Have you ever fired a gun?
   Sherzy: Yes, a long, long time ago I fired a shot gun (every farm has one).
   Katie: Yes, my dad taught me and I’m terrible.  I practiced on an old pop can.  It’s weird that I  have a very clear mental image of that memory.
   Cariann: Yes and the thing was bigger than me… I’m a terrible shot.
4. Where do you call home?
   Sherzy: My house. But this reminds me of a story – when my brother and I both moved out of our childhood home but still lived near by, he would say, “I am going home” So I asked if he meant home – the farm, or home – his apartment, and he explained it this way: “Home is the apartment; Home Home is the farm”. I always thought that was cute, and I felt the same way.
   Katie: Home is my apartment.  I’ve just recently started referring to my home home as “my parents house”.
   Cariann: Wherever my family is.
5. What’s your favorite board game?
   Sherzy: Currently I am digging Settlers of Catan, esp. the Cities and Knights version.
   Katie: Oh! I love Scattergories or Pictionary or Taboo or Yahtzee.  Oh and I like Chess too.  I refuse to pick a favorite.  Oh and Catchphrase.
   Cariann: Husband hates board games… so it’s been a while… Does Apples to Apples count?

For Katie:

Bahama Mama

Put ice in glass. Add equal parts:

• White Rum (Bacardi)
• Coconut Rum
• Orange Juice
• Pineapple Juice

Top with splash of grenadine. Tiny umbrella optional.

Our Friday 5 for September 12th

1. Who lets you have your way more than you should?
   Sherzy: My hubby, of course
   Katie: My Chris.
   Cariann: Everyone I know.
2. According to the cliche, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but what’s the way to yours?
   Sherzy: Cheese. Or liquor. Or both.
   Katie: Gifts.
   Cariann: Words.
3. What’s something that should have been put away but hasn’t been?
   Sherzy: the dishes in the dishwasher. We have the hardest time unloading that thing!
   Katie: Laundry of course.  Everyday I dress myself from huge piles of laundry rather than my closet.  Classy I know.
   Cariann: Usually laundry.
4. When did you last weigh yourself?
   Sherzy: earlier this week.
   Katie: Ugh.  This morning.
   Cariann: No idea.
5. What do the cops in the donut shop say?
   Sherzy: “Walk like and Egyptian”
   Katie: What? I’m either too young or too much of a newb to understand this question.
   Cariann: “Ay oh whey oh, ay oh whey oh”

It’s one of those days that will be forever etched in the minds of those who remember it. September 11th, 2001.

Sherzy:
It was a typical Tuesday morning for me, slept a little too late, rushing to get dressed and drive to class (I was attending HTC in Eden Prairie – had a 9am Visual Basic class). Jump in the car, start to drive to class, turn on the radio. Something is weird, I wonder if it’s some sort of morning show antics, but it seems too serious. That’s when I start to realize what happened, but there aren’t a lot of details yet, at least not on the radio.

I go into class, Kris was actually taking this class with me, we both mention what we heard but class is about to start. A lot of students keep looking at the TV playing the news just outside of the class room – the stupid teacher says, “if it’s a big deal it will be on the news later tonight.” Idiot. Somehow we get through the class, and then rush to the TV to see what is going on. Everyone is shocked. Kris has to go to work, I go home. Most of the day is just surreal.

I spend the afternoon trying to get a hold of my best friend Sara, who lives in NJ. Finally in late afternoon we talk briefly, she and all her family are OK. Since it was a Tuesday we have meeting that night. Brother Hernandez gives a wonderful local needs, talking about what happened. Everyone feels encouraged.

Cariann:

Well, I had been not working for a while because my last job had stressed me out so badly that I was manifesting it physically… don’t ask.  My uncle had committed suicide just the last September, so the mood was already somber at my house.  My cat had been sick all weekend and when we brought her in on that Monday, the vet told us there was nothing we could do for her and she had to be put down.  So, I wake up on that Tuesday… actually early for me.  I grabbed some breakfast and decided to turn on the tv… which I never do.  I actually caught it right before the second plane hit.  The newscasters were all weirded out, no one really knew at that point what exactly had happened…  Then the second plane hit.  Speechless.  I mean what do you say?  What can you say?  I know it doesn’t exactly compare, but it reminded me of when Owen Heart died during a live pay-per-view.  No one knows what exactly is going on, no one knows what to say about it, and the cameras are only on shocked faces of the masses.

I called my father, even though we were all “safe” in MN, I didn’t know if word had gotten to him yet as he was at work.  He heard and was trying to get a hold of our family in NY.  We don’t really have family that is all that close to downtown… some in Brooklyn… but you worry none the less.

No one that we know was in the attacks.  But for people of my generation… This was “D-Day”

Summer is gone. *dramatic sigh*

Since that sneaky vixen named Summer snuck off, my only consolation will be the new fall shows that are starting. Last winter was a total bust. Between the writers strike and not owning a DVR there wasn’t really anything to help me with those chilly months of indoor captivity.

Needless to say my expectations for this season are quite high.

One show in particular that I’m looking forward to is “Gossip Girl”. Ok, I’m not going to lie. I’m addicted. It actually happened sometime last spring when their 1^st season was almost over. I’m not going to try and justify it. Yes I’m a little too old to get sucked into shows like that, but whatever. It’s a guilty pleasure. In college I was ridiculously hooked on The OC. This was a story about rich high school kids in California rather than rich high school kids in New York. It’s even got the same writers, so this was destined to happen.

My conversation with Chris last weekend. —->

Chris: “What did you think of the premiere?” (As he’s reading a review of it online.)

Me: “What? It hasn’t started yet.” (As I roll my eyes.)

Me: “Idiot.”

Ok, I may have exaggerated that, but you get the idea. Well. It turns out that they did in fact start their season on September 1^st, which was Labor Day. Unbelievable. So in a fit of rage I head out to the DVR. I needed to program it immediately so that I didn’t repeat this whole mess next week. Imagine my surprise when I find that the DVR did record the season premiere because it was still programmed to record that show from last season. Technology never ceases to amaze me.

So I woke up this morning dreaming about grocery shopping. It was 6pm the day before Christmas, and I was running all around the crowded grocery store trying to find the ingredients for beef stew. I needed potatoes, but some lady next to me got the last of the Yukon Golds. There were some red potatoes, but by the time I reached for them they were gone. Just before waking I realized I had potatoes at home that I bought at the farmer’s market (real life).

Analysis?

My workouts have suffered since I broke my wrist – obviously I haven’t been able to do any upper body strength training. I could have been doing lower body and abs but I have just been slacking. I have been running, but that is all.

So on Saturday I finally resolved to do a decent lower-body and ab workout (the wrist is still far to sore and stiff to do much). I probably pushed a little too hard – I am still quite sore today. Here is what I did:

5 min warm-up (jumping jacks, running in place, high knees, etc)
Superset x 3

• Squats 12reps, 12lbs
• Lunges 12reps (per side), 12lbs
• Deadlifts 12reps, 12lbs
• Step-ups 15reps (per side), 10lbs

Core workout

• Women’s Health: Total Workout in Ten core workout (did plank instead of jackknife)

I can’t believe that it’s already August.   Why didn’t anyone tell me?

So, I had been thinking about my last post… and ironically, even though there are two other authors to this blog, my last post is still at the top of the page.  I guess it’s ok then that I am just now getting to a follow up.  Kinda.

In any case, my point is that I would like to open this up to anyone who reads this blog.  I can not speak for my co-authors, but I can say for myself that I am willing to answer any and all questions you may have.  Thoughts, opinions, secrets?  I’m game.  Now, I can not promise anything.  I am only so articulate… and I’m sure you could come up with some questions that I have not even asked of myself yet… and therefor do not have an answer.  But I will think long and hard about each question and answer it to my ability.  

Rready? GO!

I don’t know if anyone who reads this actually watches the Moment of Truth… but I catch it every once in a while.  Usually at the gym… which is kind of fun because there is almost always someone else watching and really I don’t think you can watch this show without having an opinion… and usually a strong one at that.  But that is probably a whole other post.

So, the basic idea is that you have 21 questions to answer and if you answer all of them truthfully you can get half a million dollars.  There are different levels… 6 questions gets you 10K, 5 more gets you 25k, 4 100k, 3 200k 2 350k and the last question gets you the 500k.  As you can imagine, each level gets harder and harder to answer.  Each contestant has to be pre-approved and at that point is asked 50 questions.  Clearly only 21 of these are used… And up to now, no one has walked away with more than $200,000.  I really believe that I could do this show without a problem.  The host Mark L. Walberg always says “If you tell the truth, the game is simple”  Sounds easy enough, right?

I did it.  I quit.

Yup.  You heard me.  I quit.

Why?  See now, that’s not exactly an easy question to answer.  Like I told Dobie Gillis: “It’s kind of an Office Space answer…  I just didn’t feel like working there anymore.”  Now, again, I’m sure I know what you’re thinking: Sure, I don’t want to work where I am either, but I don’t just up and quit!  And, really, what can i say to that?  Nothing.  But I made this decision with the approval of Husband… and then just did it.

Ok fine… so now what?  See, I don’t really have an answer for that either.  Is that bad?  Um…

So, on a slightly related note…  Tony Soprano called my old place of employment and was surprised to find out that I no longer worked there.  Well… I hate to say this, but honestly, if maybe you were better at caring what actually happened in my life, you would have found out sooner.